New Flame
by xem98x
Summary: Emma Carter's life has never been normal, how could it be with Peggy Carter as a grandmother? But after meeting the world's first super solider, Steve Rogers, her life becomes significantly more complex, with discoveries about family and love. (I hate how cheesy I made that sound but please give it a read) Also you can skip the first chapter, it's just background information
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, so this is a new story, I was going to carry on with the Life of Jessica Carter, but I've just read it again and realised I can't think of a direction for the story to go in. Anyway I decided to write what I'm thinking at the moment is going to be almost an alternate way the story could have gone. However because I do also want this to be a different story I am going to change character names and also backgrounds. But before I start I'd like to say a huge thank you to Louis for helping me with this story.**

 **This chapter is pretty much just going to explain the background of characters, also fair warning this will link to Marvel's Agents of SHIELD at some point. Also Peggy's husband is made up, so please no one have a go at me for that.**

 **...**

After the war Peggy Carter had joined Howard Stark in setting up SHIELD, it had become a huge part of her life. She would often lead the Howling Commandoes on missions taking down HYDRA facilities and it was through this work that she met the man that would later become her husband, Daniel Lucas. Peggy never took her husband's name as a way of demonstrating her independence, a trend that her descendants followed as a sign of respect.

Peggy and Daniel had a daughter, Carys, who like her parents eventually ended up working at SHIELD, although rather than being an agent she became a nurse- a role that had her doing all kinds of jobs but never in the firing line. Despite Peggy being against the match Carys married her husband Daryl Johnson when she was 24. Although the marriage was not a happy one and both had affairs with other people. The couple split after 3 years and not long after Carys gave birth to her daughter, whom she named Emma Carys Carter. The same way Peggy raised Carys, Carys began raising Emma on stories of Captain Rogers, the Howling Commandos and the war.

Emma was 4 when her mother was killed in a car crash, the circumstances of which would later come in to question. Peggy and Daniel became guardians for the distraught 4 year old, who they saw as the only thing keeping their daughters memory alive. With her grandparents being founders of SHIELD she spent a lot of time there, and began joining in on training exercises by the time she was 10 she could fight like any of the best agents. By the time she was 15 she had spent enough summers with Tony Stark to become one of the best mechanics SHIELD had. Despite being offered a place at the academy when she was 16, Emma chose to go to university and get her degree in Computer programming.

At age 21 Emma finished university and returned home to Brooklyn where she lived with her grandparents. By this time they were both in their 80s and instead of them taking care of Emma, she would take care of them. Emma had taken a job at SHIELD that allowed her to stay with her grandparents, despite being one of the best field agents available Director Fury had agreed that she would only be sent out on field work if it were absolutely necessary, the rest of the time she would have a desk job coordinating missions both domestic and overseas.

Emma had never quite gotten over the death of her mother but rather she had learnt to cope with it, she had always kept herself busy which meant limiting the amount of time she could even think about it. Like Peggy she was strong willed and never willing to take bullshit from anyone, but like both her mother and Daniel she was compassionate to the extent that she would never let her work become more important than being around for her friends or family whenever they needed her.

It was for this reason that when Daniel was diagnosed with cancer Emma took several weeks off work to take him to various appointments and try to find him the best possible care, as well as helping Peggy come to terms with the fact that Daniel may not be around for that much longer. Emma devoted her time to pretty much everything but herself, a trait that led others to rely heavily on her for both advice and support.

 **Okay so there's all the background. I thought it would be a good idea to explain the characters a little bit before properly starting the story. I'm sorry if this bit was a little bit boring but I promise it will get a lot better :) xem98x**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here's the first chapter, I really hope you guys like it.**

...

 _Beep beep beep_

6:30am and Emma's alarm clock cuts through the silence of her small bedroom. Sleepily slamming the clock with her hand Emma attempted to turn it off before it woke anybody else up and then rolled herself up and out of bed grabbing her dressing gown as she headed from her room down the hall into the kitchen. She wandered around half asleep making coffee and pouring herself cereal, clearing away dishes from the night before and watering the plants.

More awake now Emma walked back to her room and changed into her gym clothes before going for her usual morning run. Just like everyday Emma ran the usual 10 miles before returning home, showering quickly and dressing again.

By 8:30am she'd made breakfast for her grandparents left it on the table for them and headed into work. It was only a 30 minute drive to the SHEILD base she was working at but the traffic always made it feel so much longer, and she always became so impatient especially when the jerks in their sports cars decide they rule the road and cut in front with no warning. So that day the same as every other one Emma arrived at work slightly irritated until Adam, who works in her department, brought her an espresso.

The two head to the elevator that would take them to their floor talking about the latest field mission they had to coordinate.

"How exactly do they think we can somehow get an entire tag team and a backup team fully armed and into Moscow without being detected and then make an iron clad extraction plan?" Adam moaned to Emma who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh come on, we've definitely had harder jobs to do. France was pretty tricky." Emma retorted smiling.

"France was easily. Korea, THAT was a hard one."

"Bullshit, we practically did that one in our sleep."

"Fine, but Taiwan was definitely the hardest. No, no actually Budapest was the worst."

"Adam, that was Romanoff and Barton we didn't even have to make an extraction plan, in fact we barely did anything."

"Fine, but you have to admit watching that one nearly gave you a heart attack."

Emma laughed as both she and Adam headed to their desks in the corner of the office. Adam was still moaning as another of their co workers Amy came over, holding a thick envelope.

"So it's 9:32am and Adam is already moaning. Sometimes Adam, I think you're in the wrong job," Amy laughed giving him a mocking look, "Oh Emma this is for you."

"You have to admit though the job wouldn't be the same without Adams moaning" Emma said as she took the envelope from Amy. She put the envelope in the drawer in her desk and went to turn on the computer, as both Amy and Adam stared intently at her.

"Ok I'll bite," Adam said, "Emma you get these envelopes then you disappear for days, what the hell happens."

Emma looked up to see the stern faces of her two friends. When she'd made the deal Fury he'd requested that she not tell other about the arrangement and to avoid questions she'd asked that her relation to the founders never be mentioned. She'd never wanted to draw attention to herself but instead just do her job well, something she suspected she wouldn't be able to do if everyone knew who she was. Fury had suggested using a different name but Emma had said she never wanted to conceal her identity just keep it out the limelight. But it was times like this when she couldn't answer questions from her friends that she wished she had never made any such deal.

"It's confidential stuff, sorry guys." She said simply giving them a quick smile and then looking back at her computer screen which was now showing a map highlighting the points where it would be easiest to get the teams into Moscow undetected. Adam and Amy looked at her a second longer before shrugging and getting back to work.

11am and Emma left her desk and headed out in to the main lobby to make her usual call home and check that Peggy and Daniel were okay. She didn't notice Amy and Adam getting out of their seats to make the short walk to her desk where they opened the draw an retrieved the envelope before returning to their own desk. When Emma returned she became too preoccupied with her work to notice them leaving with the envelope.

 _Outside in the lobby_

"We shouldn't be doing this." Amy said guiltily.

"What? Don't you want to know what's going on?" Adam asked. Amy looked at him then sighed and nodded.

The pair carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the papers inside. _Mission summary_ was written in block letters at the top of the first page and further down under the title _Active agent_ was the name _Agent Emma C. Carter._

"This doesn't make any sense." Adam said leafing through the document. "This is signed by the Director. Emma's a desk agent why would they be sending her into the field."

"Not even just into the field, Adam, this is a combat mission."

"The papers aren't even finished it's still got tech assistance down as pending."

The two looked through the form again and again looking for clues of what was going on, but found nothing.

"I was going to recommend you two." Emma's voice came from behind them.

The pair whirled round and held the papers behind their backs. "What are you talking about?" Adam stammered.

"I'm not stupid, I knew you'd taken the file." She nodded towards the papers she could see in their hands. "I was going to recommend to Fury that you two be the tech assistance in the field."

"Why?" Amy asked surprised.

"Because you're good at what you do, there's no denying that."

"We coordinate plans, we're not tech."

"That's the role you'd do, it's an unplanned mission, we don't know what will happen so we need people who can plan an extraction quickly."

"Wait, why aren't you angry?" Adam asked.

"I was gonna tell you anyway, you just saved me the trouble." She shrugged, watching the shocked faces in front of her. "You've read the brief, think about it and let me know."

Emma turned her back on them and calmly walked away and back to work. After she'd left the pair looked at each other intently before stuffing the paper back in the envelope and heading back into the office.

Not long after the three took a break for lunch and Amy decided she wanted answers, although she doubted she'd get any.

"Emma, if you want me to do this then I'm going to need some answers." Amy announced abruptly as she stabbed at her pasta salad.

Emma looked up from her phone slightly startled by the sudden announcement, "Answers to what?"

"I don't get it. You work in mission coordination, why are you going on a combat mission?"

Emma sighed, "I'm trained as a field combat agent as well as a tech agent and coordinator. When SHIELD recruited me, I made a deal with Fury."

"What deal?" Amy asked just as Adam opened his mouth to speak.

"I can't tell you, it's confidential."

"So I take it, it would be on your personal file?" Adam questioned.

"Of course." Emma nodded. "But before you even think about getting it called up, it's sealed."

With that Emma left headed back towards the office, where she sent off a few emails and filled in forms for her current assignment before grabbing her bag and heading home.

Throughout the journey home Emma became increasingly concerned about just how inquisitive Adam and Amy could become. It could easily create a messy situation. Pushing these thoughts out her mind Emma collected Daniel and set off for the hospital, where she would sit through yet another round of chemo and try to be the rational one of the pair when the doctor talked to them after about Daniel's options.

Two days later Emma received a message telling her the mission was cleared to go again. Her orders were to catch the 9:30am flight to Hawaii make her way to the Hilton hotel and await the arrival of her tech team who would arrive several hours later. It didn't take long to get everything organised, she made a quick phone call to her friend who would look in on her grandparents whilst she was away and then she was off to the airport and getting on the plane.

A gruelling 11 hours later Emma was stepping off the plane in Honolulu, Hawaii. She followed the stream of tourists and collected her bags before getting into a taxi and driving to the hotel. SHIELD had organised a pre-booked room under an alias and made sure the room of her tech team would be adjoining to hers. Once in the room Emma unpacked the equipment she would need, guns, camera, encrypted phone, laptop and various other bits of tech. A short while later Adam and Amy arrived posing as newlyweds on their honeymoon.

Only Emma would know the full details of the mission, Adam and Amy were to analyse any data she sent to them and to coordinate an extraction plan if necessary. Emma established a code that would allow her to inform them of what they needed to do.

A text saying ' _Hope you enjoy your honeymoon see you soon'_ would serve as code for them to coordinate an extraction.

Whereas a text saying _'Sorry to hear you cut your honeymoon short, home you make it home okay'_ would serve as code to abort the mission and get back to the SHIELD base asap. Any other information was sent over encrypted channels and would be unlikely to make sense to anyone else anyway.

By 6pm Emma was already observing her target, a man suspected of selling sensitive information to dangerous clients. She'd already been given permission to take him out if necessary but only if she could ensure there would be no way his death could be linked to SHIELD.

Just a few hours later Emma returned to the hotel to ensure the suspect didn't know she was tailing him she'd placed a tracker on his phone so she could monitor him from a distance, meaning that she could also monitor him from the hotel over night.

Once she had returned Adam informed her that they'd been sent more orders. The World Counsel had become concerned about the connections the data was showing the suspect to have, so they'd requested his car and house be fitted with devices that would allow them access to more sensitive information. Fury had given authorisation for Adam and Amy to assist Emma in the field.

It was for that reason that the next day, Emma found herself sitting in the car outside the suspect's home with two very nervous assistants in the back. When the suspect left Emma moved the car out of sight behind the house and after telling the others to wait for her signal, quickly climbed over the wall and dropped down onto the lawn, she then silently made her way to the back door keeping an eye out for cameras or sensors as she went; she found only one camera and it was easily avoidable. Once instead she checked the house for anyone else and then gestured for the others to join her. The three went about fitting the devices in all rooms in the house moving as little as possible and making sure they were heavily concealed.

They were so close to finishing when a man dressed in all black burst into the house with a machine gun, he fired everywhere and anywhere. Emma instinctively dived to the floor pulling the others down with her. Dust and plaster flew through the air. Windows shattered, books and pictures clattered to the floor around them. Emma slowly reached for her gun and motioned for the others to stay put as she crawled along the broken objects and towards the hall where the man was still firing randomly into the house, he hadn't seen her as he advanced, but the air was thick with dust and the constant gunfire was making it hard to see especially when he made it to the kitchen where he must of hit a gas pipe because a small firing began raging across the room. Pulling herself into a better position Emma aimed and fired three rounds at the gunman, who twisted round and saw her as he fell to the floor with three exit wounds spilling blood down his chest.

Emma swiftly knocked the gun away from the body and backed away quickly grabbing Amy and Adam and running from the house. They made it safely back to the hotel where Emma hacked the police network and found the details of the investigation that had already been started in the time it had taken them to get away, nothing of any interest had been found yet. So instead she turned her attention to the suspect who's phone signal showed him to be in the middle of the forest.

"Is that odd?" Amy asked visibly shaken by the ordeal.

Emma nodded as she checked the police investigation again, still nothing.

"Turn on the TV, Adam we might be able to get some more information from news reports." Emma said as she wrapped a blanket round Amy who was shaking as her adrenaline rush began to subside.

But what greeted them on the screen was not scenes of Hawaii, but instead pictures of Manhattan in ruins. Collapsed buildings, fires, and overturned cars everywhere. Even the reporter wasn't speaking but rather like the three in the hotel room was watching the scenes in utter disbelief as the destruction seemed to become worse with every new image.

 **So there's the first chapter, its kinda long, I got a bit carried away. But anyhow I'd love to know what you think so far, so please leave a review. Thanks for reading xem98x**


	3. Chapter 3

**I've actually only just posted the first chapter but I just felt like carrying on, so I hope you all enjoyed that one and that you'll enjoy this one just as much, if not more.**

 **...**

Mere hours after seeing the devastation on the TV, the team was recalled back to base. SHIELD had been thrust unexpectedly into the limelight and Fury wanted all available agents on damage control. The media was calling for information. The government wanted the heads of the people involved, and the World Counsel wanted the heads of the Avengers.

Emma's position in mission coordination had been forgotten as she'd flown around the world meeting with officials and dignitaries, in various countries, assuring them that the situation was controlled despite the devastation the people of New York had suffered.

Months later and things had begun to return to normal, Emma had been returned to her coordination role after having spent weeks on damage control. The only difference was that SHIELD was out of the shadows now and many people were furious that such an organisation had been allowed to exist for 50 years without being noticed by the public. The reason for this of course was that the public will only see what they want to see and when they want to see it. She'd had to follow up on the suspect from Hawaii and found that he'd been murdered by the gunman who turned out to be his brother that had been sent to prison over the selling of information. Despite it being an unexpected outcome SHIELD were happy that they had one less problem to deal with and as it happened the death of both men was actually somewhat convenient as no one had to go in and clear up, especially as the police had put the cause of death of the gunman down to a ricocheting bullets.

So it was with relief that Emma was able to spend one weekend doing absolutely nothing of importance. Peggy and Daniel were watching a film whilst Emma cleared up in the kitchen from lunch. For once it felt like a fairly normal day. That was, of course, until the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Peggy called out, already in the hall.

Emma heard muffled talking at the door before she heard Daniel shouting out "Cap!" in his loud booming but yet cheerful voice. More muffled voices followed and then footsteps came down the hall. Both Peggy and Daniel entered beaming, swiftly followed by none other than Captain Steve Rogers, who appeared significantly taller in person than in the pictures she had seen in papers.

"Emma, I'd like you to meet Steve." Peggy grinned excitedly before continuing "Steve, this is our granddaughter, Emma."

Emma smiled as she shook Steve outstretched hand and he said also smiling "It's very nice to meet you."

Daniel invited Steve to take a seat and the proceeded to ask if he'd like a drink, at which point he asked for a tea and Daniel looked pointedly at Emma, who rolled her eyes and flipped the switch on the kettle as she reached for the tea bags. She then pulled four mugs out of the cupboard as Peggy started questioning Steve on what he's spent his time doing since coming out the ice.

Steve told them all about doing small missions for SHIELD, as well as being heavily involved in the battle for New York, which they already knew, but neither the less they listened. He told them about the people he'd met and how different everything had become. A few hours later and they were still all talking so Emma began to cook them all dinner. Nothing special, just a simple stir fry, although Steve watched with a mild expression of being impressed.

"Well everything is no longer boiled, good to know." He said as he watched Emma cut up a pepper.

"Nope," Daniel confirmed, "Instead you get your face burned off frying things."

"Actually granddad, that's just you." Emma laughed.

"Either way, never put your face over the pan." Daniel informed Steve wagging his finger at him, "although a frying pan can make a rather useful weapon."

Peggy laughed, "How would you know? You've never picked one up in your life."

"I have," Daniel retorted, "Just yesterday I took one out the dishwasher. Didn't I Emma?"

"That was a saucepan."

Steve laughed at the comically look of confusion plastered onto Daniels face. Emma smirked as she plated up four portions and handed them out. Everyone ate in relative silence with Steve complementing Emma on her cooking and Daniel chewing loudly before announcing that he could not eat anymore. Despite the fact that he had in fact finished his entire portion and picked at Peggy's when she wasn't looking.

"Listen Steve it's great to see you and all, but I'm getting on a bit and if I fall asleep here I'll have Emma moaning about having to drag me to bed. So I'm going to turn in for the night."

"Oh of course," Steve said nodding, "It's been great to see you."

Peggy then also followed Daniel after having said goodnight and gushing over how good it was to see Steve after so many years.

Emma began clearing away dishes while Steve sat finishing the mug of tea that had been refilled during dinner.

"Would you like a hand with that?" He asked as Emma started loading things into the dishwasher.

"Nah its fine."

"Are you sure? I don't mind."

"It's fine, it doesn't take long."

Steve nodded, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Go for it."

"How sick is Daniel?"

"You saw through the cheerful facade then."

"It wasn't hard, he just to be telling jokes non-stop and bouncing around like a child. I know he's a lot older now but even so I just got the sense there was something else."

"He was diagnosed with cancer about 2 years ago. It was stage two at the time so he decided to have all the treatment, but just a few weeks ago actually he decided he didn't want to carry on with it, so now he just takes some pain medication and that's it. He hasn't told Peggy yet though."

"Oh, that must be hard on you. It looks like you do a lot for them more than most would I suspect."

"I'm just doing what they did for me, and it's not that hard because they don't need me 24/7 which means I can still go to work."

"Does no one else help out?"

"There's a couple of nurses that come over during the day, and I have a friend who helps out from time to time. But they're not exactly high maintenance."

"You don't have any other family come over and help out at all?"

"There is no one else."

"Oh I'm sorry."

"It's fine honestly."

"I'd better get going, do you think they'd mind if I came by again sometime." Steve asked as he headed down the hall to the door.

"I reckon they'd love it, actually." Emma replied as she followed him down the hall.

"Great. Well, I was nice to meet you Emma and thanks for the food."

"It was great to meet you too, and honestly you can come over anytime you want." Emma said as Steve stepped out and said goodbye. Before he headed for the elevator.

Waiting for the elevator Steve realised he was glad he'd visited because he'd enjoyed being able to see his old friends again, but at the same time thinking about it now meeting Emma might have been the past part. She was somewhat intriguing to him, as well as being stunningly beautiful and incredibly kind and patient. Emma, he decided would have to be someone he should get to know. With that Steve stepped into the elevator and headed home.

 **Well that's the end of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. It's quite a bit shorter than the other chapter but I really wanted a chapter specifically for Emma and Steve's first meeting. Anyway please leave a review, all feedback is welcome. xem98x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys sorry it's been awhile since the last chapter but I'm just about to start my A2 exams so I haven't had time to write anything. But anyway right now exams are stressing me out so I thought I could spend some time working on a new chapter. Hope you like it.**

"Where the hell have you been?" Adam asked the minute Emma sat down at her desk.

"Nice to see you too." Emma sighed.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Manhattan got trashed and you disappeared for weeks."

"I was on damage control."

Adam eyed her sceptically as she logged onto her computer and began sorting through the long list of emails she'd missed over the past couple of weeks.

"I tried to pull your file." Amy said looking up from her desk.

"I told you it was sealed."

"Yeah it is, with a Level 10 clearance code. That's literally just Fury who can access it."

"I know."

Adam and Amy stared at her but Emma remained calm and completely unfazed by their interrogation, instead she set about beginning the plans for another extraction in Chile. She saw out of the corner of her eye both Adam and Amy leave their desks and head for the elevator across the lobby.

 _Adam and Amy's POV_

"We need to get answers." Amy said once they reached the elevator. Adam nodded as they stepped inside.

"Floor 50" Amy said as they stepped inside. "Maybe we can speak to the Director."

The pair were silent as the elevator took them up the side of the building to the top floor where Director fury's office was. When the doors finally opened the pair stepped out and headed down the corridor towards the desk of Fury's assistant.

"We need to talk to the Director urgently." Adam said curtly.

"Sorry, Director Fury is busy in a meeting with Captain Rogers." The assistant said without even looking up. Adam and Amy peered through the glass wall and saw Fury and Captain Rogers in what appeared to be a very heated argument.

"Normally I'd be respectful of that fact. But today I'm too damn tired of people not being honest." Amy said somewhat aggressively as she grabbed Adam's arm and stormed through the door.

"Sir we need to speak to you about Emma Carter." Amy announced loudly, interrupting Fur and Rogers' conversation.

"I'm sorry sir, I told them you were busy." The assistant said a tone of desperation in her voice.

Fury waved the assistant away, "What about Emma Carter?"

"Why is her file Level 10 classified?" Amy asked a little calmer now that she was getting answers.

"Let me guess. Compartmentalisation?" Rogers' said sounding slightly irritated.

"No." He said giving Rogers' a stern look. "Emma asked me to make sure her file was classified, and I agreed because it was a sensible decision."

"She didn't want anyone to know. Smart move." Captain Rogers' said earning himself the confused gazes of Amy and Adam.

"Exactly." Fury said.

"Care to explain to us?" Amy asked.

"If you want to know you have to ask Emma. Its personal information." Fury said matter of factly.

"Can't you just tell us?"

"Not without her permission."

"So basically you want us to go all the way downstairs and ask her just to come back up so you can tell us."

"No, if you're going down you might as well get her to tell you, no point wasting time coming back up."

"Or I could just text her." Steve said holding up his phone.

"When did you get Emma's number?" Fury asked raising an eyebrow.

"When she gave it to me." Steve said as he typed out a message to Emma.

Fury sat back in his chair, looking at Steve with an amused expression, whilst Adam and Amy stood slightly awkwardly in front of the desk. Steve looked up from his phone and decided to sit himself down in the chair opposite Fury's desk.

A few seconds passed and Steve's phone beeped as Emma's reply came through. He smirked at the phone before looking up and saying, "She says its fine you can tell them."

"Emma's file is classified because she wanted to be judged on her own merits." Fury said simply.

"As opposed to being judged on what? That can't be the only reason." Adam asked.

"As opposed to being judged on being related to Peggy Carter and Daniel Lucas." Fury paused and guessing Adam and Amy would want more information decided to continue. "Emma was essentially raised inside SHIELD, she's one of the best agents we have but even so it's hard to live up to the standards or Peggy Carter so by making sure no one knew they were related Emma was able to do her job without being judged by Peggy's standards."

"If she's so great, why's she behind a desk." Adam asked. Fury shrugged, he knew that Emma wanted to be able to look after her grandparents but knew nothing about Daniel's illness and he never understood why looking after he grandparents could prevent her being in the field.

"Because Daniel's sick." Steve said. "A desk job means she's working set hours and can spend more time looking after them."

Silence hung in the room whilst Amy and Adam absorbed the new information. Fury sat watching them, whilst Steve seemed to be gazing distractedly out the window. The silence was shattered by the sounds of helicopter blades outside.

"Well that's my ride, see yourselves out." Fury said rising from behind the desk and walking towards the heli pad.

Steve, Amy and Adam all left the office and got into the elevator. When the elevator reached the 21st floor Amy and Adam left, whilst Steve stayed in the elevator .

The pair walked back into their office, they saw Emma's desk was empty but ignored it as they sat at their own desks. Emma had left the paperwork of extraction plans that they had to finish and so they began working through the piles, the new information still on the forefront of the minds.

 _Emma's POV_

Despite having told Steve it was ok to explain everything to Amy and Adam she still hadn't wanted to be there when they came back to the office. So instead she'd finished her part of all the extraction plans and left them on the relevant desks, before heading out into the parking lot and getting into her car.

She drove into town and parked up. She made the short walk from her car and into Costa, she ordered her usual skinny latte before taking her usual window seat and watching all the traffic going by and people going about their daily business.

"Didn't expect to see you in here." A voice said from behind her.

"I didn't fancy sticking around for 21 questions." She smiled as Steve sat down opposite her, a cup of tea and a cake in his hand.

"I'm not surprised. Although it was fairly interesting watching Fury tell them."

"I probably should have told them myself, but I wimped out; kinda feels like I've been lying to them for all this time."

"Well they were really aggressive, so it's probably for the best that Fury told them."

"Aww, did Captain America get intimidated by the paper pushers." Emma joked taking a sip of her latte.

"No, obviously not. But for the record paper can be extremely dangerous."

"How?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Paper cuts. They are ridiculously painful, for no logical reason."

Emma laughed, "Well never get salt or hand sanitizer in a paper cut, that will hurt."

"I don't plan on it." Steve said smiling.

"So how come you're here?" Emma asked.

"Well I went to take a look at the Captain America exhibit in the museum. Slightly offended by the fact it's in a museum though."

"Where else do you expect it to be."

"Somewhere a little more interesting perhaps. Not in a building full of fossils."

Emma laughed, "I have a brilliant joke for that but I don't think my Nan would ever forgive me if I said it."

Emma and Steve sat in the window of Costa for nearly two and a half hours. They both discovered they were perfectly comfortable in each other's company and there was a never ending conversation of jokes and retorts. It was only when Emma noticed it was getting darker outside that she realised she should start heading home and so it was somewhat reluctantly that Emma said goodbye to Steve and headed back to where her car was parked.

 _Steve's POV_

He watched as Emma walked back to her car and then slowly began walking in the other direction, towards his apartment block. He'd met Emma a couple of times now and would often find himself thoroughly enjoying her company. She was, he thought, an incredibly strong but kind person; she struck him as someone who would always be loyal if you gave her reason to be, and yet somehow he thought that she wouldn't be the type of person to just step aside and let things happen if she didn't agree with them.

Steve walked home with these thoughts swirling round in his head and eventually found himself excited for the next time he would be able to spend some time with her. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts of Emma that he didn't notice the figure jumping between the buildings above him.

 **Well that's the end of this chapter, I hope you liked it. I've begun linking this chapter to the beginning to Captain America: The Winter Soldier so if anyone wants me to include a particular idea let me know.**

 **As always please leave a review and let me know what you think so far. Thanks for reading! xem98x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys, back again. Welcome to the next chapter, I love writing this story so I'm going to carry on but please please please can you guys leave reviews so I know whether or not you're liking it. Thanks.**

Emma was sat behind her desk talking to Adam and Amy, who now they knew who she was were willing to ignore it and appreciate the reason for her secret. The three had been working hard all morning but nothing would prepare them for what was about to happen.

 _Beep Beep_

Emma looked down at her mobile and saw a message from Steve:

 _Help?_

Emma looked at the phone confused, she had absolutely no idea what was going on, but even so she knew she'd help if he needed her to.

 _What do you need?_

She sat anxiously holding her phone but there was no text from Steve, instead she got a call from an unknown number.

 _"Hello?"_ She answered the call.

 _"It's me. Don't say anything just listen. SHIELD has been infiltrated by HYDRA, we're taking it down; all of it. But we need a way in because they'll spot us from a mile away. Do you think you could help?"_ Steve spoke seriously and quickly.

Emma looked around the room, everyone was oblivious to her but she realised any number of them could be HYDRA. She walked as naturally as possible towards the lobby and into the elevator.

 _"How many of you?"_

 _"Just 3."_

 _"Meet me by the river entrance."_ She ended the call just as Rumlow joined her in the elevator.

"Your off early." He said, it was a statement but it sounded a lot like a question.

"Yeah, grandparents are freaking out about something."

"Nothing serious I hope."

"Probably lost the remote again."

Rumlow smirked and stepped sideways allowing her out, she walked as fast as possible to her car, climbed in quickly and drove out the parking lot.

She stayed calm, her training kicking in, as she drove the short distance to where she would meet Steve. She pulled over and waited in the car until she saw an old Volvo heading towards he and then slowly pulling over in front of her.

She stepped out of the car and headed to towards Steve who had appeared from within the Volvo.

"I really hope you know what you're doing."

"You and me both."

He hugged her lightly before turning round and pointing to another guy who had just gotten out the car, "This is Sam Wilson."

Sam nodded and held up his hand.

"And I'm guessing you know Agent Hill already."

"Yeah. It's been a while Maria."

"Too long." Agent Hill said smiling.

"So this is nice, but do we have a plan to get in?" Sam asked gesturing towards the building in the distance.

"They can't search my car without Level 10 clearance, so I can get you inside the building but after that I'm hoping you guys have a plan."

"That's all we need you to do." Steve said. "Natasha should be in by now and Fury has his own entrance planned."

"Let's do this." Sam announced loudly.

The group got into the car, Emma driving and the other three lying in the boot of the car concealed by a bunch of medical equipment that Emma had been given by various doctors for Daniel. The car headed back towards the building drawing absolutely no attention from any of the guard towers on the bridge. It took mere minutes for Emma to get into the parking lot of the building. She parked up, got out and walked away holding up her keys she pressed the unlock button; to anyone who saw her it would look like she'd locked her car, in reality she'd left it open allowing Steve, Sam and Hill to get out when they needed to.

Emma stepped into the lift and headed back up to her floor and to her desk, almost as though she'd never even left. She sat down and continued with the work she'd been doing before Steve texted her.

"Back so soon?" Rumlow asked standing next to her desk.

"Yep, didn't even make it home. I literally made it to the end of the bridge and they phoned me told me everything was fine." Emma sighed faking annoyance at the waste of her time.

"Right then, could you run this program through the system." He handed her a memory stick but stayed where he was.

"What is it?"

"Something Pierce wants up and running asap."

"Well what the boss wants." Emma laughed as Rumlow turned away and headed out. Emma waited until he was gone and then pushed the disk into a slot in the computer. The file popped up on the screen and she scrolled through the code.

It was some kind of identification algorithm. She recognised parts as those belonging to Project Insight, but there were differences and ones she guessed that would not be good. If Rumlow was delivering things to other departments something wasn't right, he was a combat officer he wasn't even supposed to be allowed access to this floor. Emma began deleting huge sections of the code. She knew if she didn't get it up and running she would draw too much attention to herself.

5 minutes later she loaded the code onto the system and watched it progress through the computer log just when it finished loading she heard Steve's voice over the intercom. She wasn't listening to what he was saying but rather watching other people's reactions; she spotted at least 8 people going for their guns and a lot of others looking panicked as they looked at those surrounding them.

When Steve finished talking the room erupted into chaos, HYDRA agents stormed in shouting and SHIELD agents began fighting back. Emma reached for the gun she kept in her desk and shot several HYDRA agents from where she sat, she then grabbed Amy and Adam who were sat in shock in the corner.

"Grab as many people as you can and try and get out alive." She told them as she led them from the room.

"What about you?" Amy asked sounding scared.

"I've got a job to do."

"What job? They're not exactly going to need an extraction plan right now."

"Tearing down my family's legacy."

She pushed them down the emergency exit and told them to keep going before turning off into another corridor and sprinting towards the air strip.

"Emma." Steve called out from behind her.

Steve." She called back and walked towards him.

He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms round her, he bent his head down and kissed her gently on the lips. Emma tightened her arms round his neck and kissed him back. With his eyes still closed he pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against hers, "You need to get out of here." He whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Emma please, I don't want you getting hurt in this."

"I'll be careful, but there are still people here who don't deserve to get caught in this, I've got to get them out. You just focus on keeping those heli carriers grounded."

She hugged him tightly before stepping back, "Go." She said sternly, "And try to stay alive."

He smiled and kissed her lightly on the forehead before running off down the corridor and through the door onto the air strip. Emma watched him go before turning and running in the opposite direction, she took out as many HYDRA agents as possible as she ran from floor to floor help injured or trapped SHIELD agents find a way out of the building that was now like a blizzard of bullets.

Eventually Emma found herself being swept outside carrying an injured SHIELD nurse, she looked up just in time to see the heli carriers firing on themselves and falling out the sky into the already half wrecked building.

Ambulances began arriving to help with the injured and minutes later fire crews arrived and began fighting to get closer to the building in search of anyone who may have gotten trapped when the building collapsed.

The next few hours were hectic Emma was trying to work out who hadn't made it out, and who was HYDRA. She felt almost lost in the chaos with no clue what she should really be doing. As she walked down the halls of the hospital counting SHIELD agents she spotted Agent Hill.

"Maria?" She asked as she got closer.

"Emma." Maria hugged her with a sigh of relief. "I don't think Fury would've been to happy with me if you'd not made it out."

"Did you all make it out ok?"

Maria just pointed at the window in front of them. For the first time Emma noticed a figure lying in the bed on the other side. Stepping closer she noticed it was Steve.

"What happened?" She asked without even looking away.

"He fell from the heli carrier. They say he'll be fine, he's already woken up once but they've got him on a lot of morphine."

Emma and Maria were joined by Sam who had been in the room with Steve.

"He told me I stink and I should go home and change."

"He's right." Emma smiled faintly.

"Yeah you should go and change Wilson, I'm going to go and update Fury and Romanoff."

Maria and Sam left Emma standing at the window. She stood there for a few seconds before deciding to go inside. Opening the door quietly she slipped inside the room and walked the few steps to the bed. As she got closer Steve opened his eyes and looked at her a faint smile spread across his face.

"Still alive then?" She said quietly.

"I'm not that easy to kill." Steve whispered back. "How many people died?"

"I have no idea, I've spent the past couple of hours trying to work it out but the rescue services haven't been able to get into the wreckage."

"You're ok though?"

"I'm fine, no idea how, but I'm fine."

He smiled and gestured for her to come closer, he reached up and wrapped his arms round her body holding her tightly as though afraid to let her go, but he did; eventually.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked as she sat in the chair next to his bed.

"I think I should probably try and find my Dad, we may not be close but I would like to know what happened to him during that fight."

"Your Dad works for SHIELD?"

"Worked for, but yes. The job basically became his life."

"Do you want me to help?"

"Something tells me you have someone else you need to look for."

"How did you know?"

"I overheard some of the pilots who survived the crash."

They sat talking for a while longer until a nurse came in and said visiting hours were long since finished and Emma had to leave.

She kissed him gently, "I'll see you when I get back. Try not to get yourself killed before then."

He chuckled quietly, "I'll do my best."

She smiled he eyes full of love and affection, essentially mirroring Steve's. Emma then turned and left the room and began the search for her Dad.

 **So it's nearly 2am but who cares I finished the chapter. I really hope you like it so please leave a review. Thanks guys xem98x**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter hope you like it. Please leave a review.**

All Emma could feel was the cold; the wind was harsh and almost painful against her skin. She dragged her feet through the fresh blanket of snow as she trudged up the hill. She looked down at the coordinates that had appeared next to her SHIELD badge, checked her compass for the millionth time, sighed, and carried on walking North into the snow.

After three hours she reached her destination as a voice boomed out, "Identify yourself."

"Agent Emma Carter, SHIELD." Emma shouted holding up her badge.

A large rock covered in snow began to shake as doors opened in front of her. The huge stone doors eventually opened and revealed a small rather round man holding a tablet in his hand as he walked forwards to greet her.

"Welcome to Providence Agent Carter, I've been expecting you. Please follow me."

Emma followed him into what appeared to be a large concrete tunnel as the doors shut behind them and the sound of the howling wind finally disappeared. He led her down a series of tunnels until they eventually reached a room filled with sofas and a large TV screen.

"Agent Carter, as I'm sure you are aware; this base doesn't actually exist and so we have to be very careful with who is allowed to access it. Therefore I'm going to need you to pass a lie detector test before I can give you a lanyard which will allow you access to all areas."

"Whatever you need. Sorry I don't know your name."

"Eric. Eric Koenig. Now please follow me and we'll get this test sorted out."

Emma followed him through a side door and into a small room with one normal chair and another covered in wires and electrodes all attached to a computer sitting on a small table in the middle of the room. She smiled slightly recognising the chair and remembering Fury and Natasha trying to test how accurate its results were. Eric gestured for her to take a seat, whilst he began attaching the appropriate electrodes to her skin.

"Right, I'm going to ask some questions all you have to do is accurately answer them."

"Got it."

He tapped a couple of buttons on his keyboard and then picked up a piece of paper with a list of questions written out on it.

"You are Emma Carys Carter?"

"Yes."

"You are 25 years old."

"Yes."

"How long have you worked for SHIELD."

"Officially, 4 years."

"Unofficially?"

"That's more complicated."

"Please explain."

"I was raised in SHIELD from the age of 4. So I was often allowed access to the computer system to help analyse data or reprogram when necessary."

"You're alone on an island, with only a box. What's in it."

"A satellite phone."

The questions continued for another 10 minutes or so but eventually Eric seemed satisfied with the results and asked Emma to wait outside whilst he sorted out a lanyard for her. He appeared minutes later and handed her the lanyard before proceeding to show her around the base.

Over the next two days nothing interesting happened and so the time was filled with games of scrabble and Call of Duty. On the third day however, the bases radar found several people moving closer to the base, Emma began monitoring their progress as the approached the base whilst Eric began preparing for their arrival. When they finally arrived Emma let Eric play his role in putting them through the lie detector and getting them cleared for lanyards. It had been several hours since their arrival but they were now all sitting in the main seating area of the base. Emma could hear them from down the corridor as she walked slowly towards them.

When she reached the room it went silent as they all saw her appear from round the corridor she smiled at Triplett who she'd known for years because their grandparents had been friends but then she turned to face the person she's been looking for, ever since her conversation with Steve in the hospital.

"Emma?" He asked sounding almost nervous.

"Hi Dad." She smiled weakly.

Coulson stood up and wrapped his arms tightly round his daughter for the first time in 21 years. He was completely oblivious to the shocked faces behind him but Emma had a clear view and found their shock almost amusing.

"Ok, ok. Someone please explain what is going on here?" One of the women said while everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Emma are you freaking kidding me? We've known each other our entire lives and you never thought to mention this tiny nugget of information." Trip said sounding exasperated.

"If you think this is news, you gonna want to kill me when I tell you what else has been going on."

"Wait a minute, don't mean to be rude but I'm still waiting for an explanation hear."

"Right everyone," Coulson announced, "This is my daughter, Emma, you don't know about her because I haven't seen her for 21 years."

He then began to introduce everyone to Emma, "Skye, May, Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz and you already know Trip."

"I have a question." Trip said looking apprehensive. "Is your nan still angry with me?"

"She's fuming, what did you expect breaking her favourite plate?"

"It was a plate, I didn't realise it was such a big deal." He laughed.

The group was about to start interrogating Coulson but the shrill sound of Emma's ringtone sliced through the air, silencing everyone. Emma dived for the phone and answered quickly.

"Steve?"

A look of panic spread across her face as she listened to what was being said.

"Ok, you need to get him to the hospital right now. There's an oxygen mask in the bathroom cupboard, put that on him and then get him to the hospital fast. I'll get there as fast as I can."

She hung up the phone and ran down the corridor and grabbed her stuff, whilst Coulson and the rest of the team followed after her.

"What's happening?" Coulson asked.

"Granddad's having a heart attack."

"Is he going to be ok?"

"Steve's taking him to the hospital."

"Steve?"

"Rogers."

"I'll give you a ride," He told Emma, "May, Simmons you should come to."

The four of them headed for the air hangar where the bus had been parked. May ran in and got the engine started so they could leave as soon as possible. The rest of them sat inside with Emma tapping her foot nervously.

Within half an hour May managed to get them into Brooklyn and land just minutes from the hospital. Emma, Coulson and Jemma ran out and towards the hospital reception. Emma headed straight to the emergency department with the others trailing behind her. She rounded the corridor and saw Steve almost immediately, he put out his arm and caught her as she ran towards to him.

"He crashed, they're trying to restart his heart. They think his cancer must have reached his heart. Emma it's really not looking good." He pointed towards the window in front of them and Emma saw Daniel surrounded by doctors and machines.

Jemma and Coulson arrived just seconds later, with Coulson looking slightly out of breath.

"What's happening?" Coulson asked.

"Take a look." Emma said pointing to the window.

"Guess I missed the memo then." Steve said raising an eyebrow at Coulson.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Where's Nan?" Emma asked looking around.

"She's down there." Steve pointed a little further down the corridor. Emma followed the direction of Steve's arm and went in search of Peggy. She found her sitting in a plastic hospital chair with tears running down her face. She wrapped her arms round the crying woman and tried to stop her from shaking quite so violently.

Minutes later a doctor walked down the hall. "Ma'am?" He asked peering at Peggy, "I'm so sorry, we couldn't restart your husband's heart, he's dead."

Peggy sobbed loudly, "Can we see him?" She choked out as more tears fell down her cheeks.

"Of course." The doctor nodded before helping Emma to get Peggy on her feet and leading them back to the room. When they got there they saw Jemma holding two shock pads that she'd peeled off Daniel's chest.

"I'm so sorry, I tried." She told Emma who merely nodded sadly before leading Peggy in and sitting her in a chair next to the bed.

Emma then turned and gestured for everyone to leave the room. Steve, Jemma and Coulson all stood outside the room whilst Peggy began to cry loudly clutching the hand of her dead husband. Emma watched, her heart breaking and tears beginning to fall down her cheeks, she turned her face and leant into Steve who wrapped his arms around her while she cried into his shirt.

Coulson watched his daughter sadly, remembering how Daniel had comforted her in the same way as Steve in the hospital after Carys had died. The memory brought tears to his eyes and he leant heavily against the wall, wishing as all fathers would that he could snap his fingers and take away his daughter's pain. After a few minutes Emma went back into the room and sat with Peggy as they both whispered their final goodbye's to the body of the man who had always been there for both of them.

Jemma watched from a distance as the four people continued to look agonisingly sad, until finally nurses went into the room and began getting Daniel ready to move to the morgue. She watched Coulson comforting Peggy, a woman who she'd always thought of as her hero; that now looked lost and broken, as if a single gust of wind would be enough to destroy her. Emma walked towards her, her face stained with tears and smudged eyeliner.

"Thank you for trying. I know you didn't know him, so the fact you tried to help; it really means a lot to us." Emma said sincerely before hugging Jemma and then walking back to Peggy; taking her shaking hand and leading her towards the exit without even looking back at the body of her grandfather.

 **I hope you liked this chapter and it wasn't too depressing at the end, please leave a review. Thanks xem98x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys, I'm back! Sorry it's been so long but A levels were hell. But who cares I just found out I'm off to university in September. Anyhow this is my favourite story that I'm writing at the moment and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

The past two weeks had been hell, the previously strong Peggy had almost completely fallen apart and Emma was left to pick up the pieces and try and hold everything together. She'd spent her time planning Daniels funeral and looking after Peggy. So just 16 days after the death of her granddad Emma was sat with Peggy and Steve on a long flight to London.

When the group arrived at Heathrow airport it was 4am and Emma felt numb with exhaustion, in a daze she watched as Steve grabbed the bags from the carousel and they headed off towards passport control.

"Passports please. Are you all travelling together?" A middle aged bald man said from behind his desk.

Emma nodded as she handed over the three passports, which he proceeded to scan into the computer to be verified.

"Where have you travelled from?" He asked as he looked at their photos.

"The states." Emma replied simply.

"And what's your reason for entering the UK?" He asked this time looking directly at her, to some his gaze would have been unnerving but Emma was too tired to care anymore.

"My granddad's funeral." She said glancing sideways at Peggy who looked distraught at the mention of Daniel.

"Oh my condolences." The man said politely as he handed back the passports and the gate opened to let them through.

"Thank you." Emma said as she guided Peggy through the gate followed by Steve with all the bags.

They walked silently through departures as Emma looked out for their taxi driver. Finally she saw a bored looking man stood slightly to the side holding a sign saying CARTER. Emma handed over the reservation number for him to check. He looked at it and nodded, "This way please madam."

The group followed the man to a black Ford Galaxy waiting outside. Opening the boot the man watched as Steve lifted the three cases in with ease before climbing into the car next to Emma and Peggy. The driver shut the boot and climbed into the seat and turned to look at them, "7 Lockhurst Lane?"

"Yeah, that's right." Emma nodded.

The car pulled quickly away and sped along the motorway towards Bromley, South London. Emma watched the views through the window that Peggy had fallen asleep against and began thinking about how much she wished she could just skip of the next few days. When her mother had died she was only a child and people hadn't bombarded her with questions about how she was feeling, instead they'd thought it better to leave her alone. This time though, she was getting phone calls day and night of people her asking her what she had described to Steve as being 'bullshit sympathy questions' he'd just laughed and promised never to ask her any of them; which for a few short seconds had made her smile.

After nearly 3 hours in the car, thanks to the drivers refusal to break the speed limit at all, they were pulling up outside a large grand looking house, built with stone and covered with ivy, surrounded by rose bushes and the occasional oak tree being visible in the distance.

Peggy got out the car, "I always hated this place." She said a tear sliding down her face and leaning into Emma who hugged her.

The driver handed over their bags and drove off leaving them standing on the driveway of the old house. Emma walked towards the door and pulled a key out her pocket and pushed open the heavy wooden front door, holding it open for Steve and Peggy she looked around at the large entrance hall with its extravagant crystal chandelier and ornately carved oak staircase. Looking to the right she saw the sitting room, the furniture covered in dust sheets but the light from outside showed the room to be almost exactly as she remembered, the same with the kitchen on the left.

Steve took the bags upstairs, whilst Emma helped Peggy slowly up. When they reached the top of the stairs Peggy went into the master bedroom and with some help from Emma got into bed and fell quickly asleep. Emma quietly closed the door and went back downstairs where she found Steve pulling the sheets off the furniture.

"Why does she hate it here?" He asked when he saw her.

"She grew up here, I think it just reminds her of her mom always telling her to be more ladylike and that she couldn't behave like a child forever. She was upstairs trying on her wedding dress the day she found out her brother had died that wouldn't really help her like it any better. And we always come here when someone's died."

"Oh." He nodded thoughtfully. "Do you like it here?"

"I loved it as a kid. And my parents got married here, so I try to remember it more positively."

"I didn't even realise your parents were married."

"They got married when I was about 18 months old I think. There's probably pictures in the cupboard over there."

Steve walked to the cupboard and pulled the sheet off before opening its doors. "Wow, this is organised." He laughed.

"Mom sometimes had too much time on her hands." Emma smiled as she joined him. Glancing over the photo albums which had been labelled with the year of the photos, she picked out her parents wedding album. "This one's the wedding album." She said holding it up and opening it. She turned and sat on the sofa with Steve sitting down next to her.

"No way, Coulson used to have that much hair." Steve laughed in disbelief at the picture of Coulson in a tux with a full head of dark brown hair.

Emma laughed and began pointing at the picture, "That's mom, that's Peggy and Daniel. There's Howard and Maria, oh and there's Tony."

Steve looked at the picture, "I cannot imagine Tony as a kid."

"He was pretty much the same as he is now."

Steve kept looking through the pictures and found one where Tony was holding a baby Emma.

"That was taken literally 5 seconds before I kicked my shoe into his face." She laughed and made an innocent face, "Accidentally of course."

They carried on looking through photos until Emma fell asleep and rather than leaving her on the sofa, Steve carried upstairs to bed. As he laid her on the bed, he noticed how peaceful she looked asleep; it was a complete contrast to the look of sadness that her face had adopted these past few weeks.

It was nearly 2pm when Emma finally woke up, she looked around trying to remind herself where she was and when she had she slumped back down into the pillows, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. When she managed to get herself under control she rolled over to see a fresh cup of coffee on her nightstand, and smiled weakly as she picked it up and took a sip.

When she'd showered and dressed she went downstairs and found Peggy and Steve playing cards at the table. For the first time in ages Peggy was doing something other than looking depressed. Emma watched from the doorway not wanting to interrupt and feeling relieved that Peggy was having fun. After a while she silently picked up her bag with her purse and took a set of keys from the draw and slipped quietly out the door.

Walking slowly along the road Emma made her way to a strip of local shops that she vaguely remembered from the Christmas visits she used to make here. Pushing the door open to the convenience store she stepped inside, grabbing a basket as she went and began absent mindedly picking up items they needed. She walked round the store smiling politely to other people until she'd gotten everything she'd needed and headed to the checkout.

"OMG, Emma?"

Emma looked up, she'd reached the front of the queue, and was now looking into the familiar face of the checkout girl.

"No way, Sophia?" Emma said smiling. Sophia's family lived just across the road, as children they'd often played together when Emma was in town; over the years they'd grown increasingly close and had attempted to stay in touch, which had become harder when Emma started working for SHIELD.

"This is crazy, what are you doing here?" Sophia said as she started ringing through the items.

"Oh err, my granddad died, so we're out here for the funeral."

"Ohh, I'm sorry, when's the funeral?"

"Tomorrow."

"Can I come? I always like Daniel."

"Sure, it's at St John's at 1pm."

"Ok, I'll be there."

Emma paid for the shopping and turned to leave the store.

"Hey Emma, if you wait like 5 minutes I can walk with you."

Emma nodded, "I'll wait outside for you" she said and headed out the door holding the shopping bags. She only had to wait a few minutes before Sophia appeared next to her.

"Hey" Sophia called out, "You ready?"

"Sure, let's go." Emma said and they walked back in the direction of the house. "So come on Soph spill, what's been going on with you since we last spoke."

"Well, Richard and I got married, and we have a kid. He's nearly 1 his name is Ben."

"Wow, that's so cute. I can't believe you've already got a kid."

"I know, half the time I feel like I'm still a kid. It is great though, the only thing is we can't afford to move out of my parents house so sometimes it doesn't feel like we're actually parents. Anyway when are you planning on having kids, you'd make a great Mum."

"Ahh I don't think that's actually ever going to happen. My life isn't really child friendly at the moment and I doubt it ever will be."

"Oh come on, you just need to find yourself a man and then everything just falls into place. Simple as."

"I've got a man, as you put it," Emma said in an almost mocking voice, "But our jobs aren't the kind that allow you to have a family. You have to choose either a normal life with a family and a house et cetera, or you choose the job. You can't really have both."

"You can't let a job run your life Emma, at the end of the day it's just a job and there's always someone else who can do it."

"This job is different, it doesn't work like that."

"Oh really? If it's so different how can you be here now, there must be someone covering for you."

"Ummm, I actually kind of blew my job up a couple of months back."

They'd reached the front door to the Carter's house but Sophia wasn't bothered and carried on the conversation.

"What do you mean?" She asked leaning against the door frame as Emma opened the door.

"It went KA BOOM."

"OH MY GOD! YOU MEAN YOU LITERALLY BLEW IT UP?" Sophia shouted as they walked into the house.

"Hi Sophia." Peggy called from the kitchen table still playing cards.

"Oh hi Mrs C, sorry to hear about your husband, he was a great man." Peggy and Sophia smiled at each other for a second before Sophia turned to Emma who was now putting things in the fridge. "Are you fucking insane?"

"Not as far as I know." Emma answered continuing to put things away.

"Then what in fucking hell made you think, _I know today would be a great day to blow up my job?_ Huh huh?"

"To be fair, it was his idea." Emma said pointing behind her to Steve.

"Since when?" Steve asked as Peggy got up and left the room.

"Err excuse me, I seem to remember the words 'it all goes' coming out your mouth."

"Wait? So you blew her job up?"

"I didn't blow it up per se, more like demolish the building."

"Bloody hell, what is it exactly you do?"

"Um international security."

"What like the UN?"

"Something like that."

The rest of the day passed in an almost blur, Emma was still dreading tomorrow but having Steve and Sophia around distracting her was helping, at least a little. But when the day of the funeral arrived both Peggy and Emma felt lost in sorrow and pain not just at the loss of Daniel but also because of the memories it brought back of Carys' death.

When the time finally arose to go to the church it was all Emma could do to put one foot in front of the other. The church was full by the time they arrived, looking around she saw old friends and colleagues of Daniel's, along with neighbours like Sophia who'd brought Richard as well as her parents. In front of them was Stark and Pepper.

The coffin was carried down the aisle by Daniel's closest friends, Steve being one of them; and was followed by Peggy, Emma and Coulson, who had appeared by Emma's side offering reassuring support.

"We are gathered here today to witness the passing and pay tribute to the late Daniel Lucas who was a great man, friend, husband, father and grandfather..." The vicar spoke solemnly in a voice that evidently Emma stopped listening to, when the tears began silently sliding down her face.

A tap on her shoulder from behind bought her back to reality as she turned as saw Steve leaning forward holding out a tissue. She took it and mouthed _thank you_ as she turned round again. When the funeral finally ended, the coffin was taken out to the graveyard where a plot had already been dug. Emma watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground and people threw down roses as they said their last goodbyes.

Emma and Peggy stayed until everyone had left before throwing down their own roses and whispering tearful goodbyes. Peggy turned to leave but Emma bent down in front of the grave next to Daniel's _Here lies Carys Elizabeth Carter Coulson_ _a loving daughter wife and mother_. Emma laid the last rose at the foot of the headstone before turning away and rejoining her grandmother.

The next days turned into weeks and the weeks into months and eventually Emma began to accept the death of her grandfather and move on.

 **So that's the end of the chapter, please leave a review. Thanks for reading xem98x**


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